Good morning. I’m Dawn Calleja, editor of Report on Business Magazine, wishing a Happy Taylor Swift Week to all who celebrate – and if you live in Toronto, you’re along for the ride whether you like it or not. Chris usually does takeaways from the week on Friday. So let’s call this Friday’s takeaways (Taylor’s version). But first:
In the news
A scoop to start: Alberta’s mass dismissal of AIMCo leaders came after a clash over leadership and spending concerns.
Thousands of Canada Post workers went on strike today, after the national postal service and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers failed to reach a deal for a new collective agreement.
Taiwan is eyeing Canadian liquified natural gas to supply to its growing power needs.
Alberta is joining a pact with 12 U.S. states in a bid to promote energy security after Trump’s victory.
Happening today
- Statistics Canada releases both wholesale and new motor vehicle sales; Britain reports year-over-year GDP; the United States releases retail sales.
- Earnings include MDA Space Ltd. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. The troubled Spirit Airlines Inc. was scheduled to report but filed notice earlier this week that it no longer could “without unreasonable effort or expense.”
In line for the first of Taylor Swift's six performances in Toronto.Laura Proctor/The Globe and Mail
In focus
Taylor Swift’s Electric Touch
Swift’s six-show residency at the Rogers Centre started last night, causing equal parts elation (for the 50,000-odd fans lucky enough to score tickets) and mayhem (for just about everyone else).
Fan or not, Swift is undeniably an economic force.
The music
She’s the first musician to attain billionaire status based solely on earnings from her music catalogue and tours. (She initially appeared on the Forbes billionaires list in October, 2023, with a net worth of US$1.1-billion. A little over a year later, that has increased to US$1.6-billion.) That includes nearly US$600-million from royalties and touring, roughly the same amount from her music catalogue, and US$125-million in real estate.
The value of tickets sold for the first 60 Eras Tour shows in 2023 was US$1-billion.
The merch
And let’s not forget the merch – sweatshirts, T-shirts and other items emblazoned with images of Her Normcoreness – which brought in another US$200-million. For a little perspective, Beyoncé's 2023 Renaissance World Tour, which included 2.8 million tickets sold over nearly 60 shows, raked in US$579-million, Queen Bey’s highest grossing tour to date.
The cities
All told, the impact of her epic 152-city tour is expected to exceed US$10-billion when it finally ends next month with three shows in Vancouver.
It’s no wonder cities are salivating. The typical concertgoer generates about US$300 in ancillary spending per US$100 spent on the ticket itself. But according to a Time magazine report from last fall, Swifties are spending roughly five times that, and the figure could be as much as US$1,500 per attendee.
For a bit of perspective, that’s the equivalent, in economic terms, of two to three Super Bowls – and Swift is doing that 150-odd times across five continents.
The tourism
Destination Toronto, the city’s tourism agency, expects her run in the city to generate direct and indirect spending of more than $280-million. (Los Angeles was also bestowed with six nights of Tay Tay, which benefited the city to the tune of US$320-million.)
Much to Mayor Olivia Chow’s chagrin, however, almost none of that will go into the city’s coffers. As she told Report on Business magazine in an interview this past spring: “We don’t get a penny of it. It’s great for the economy, but in terms of revenue, we actually end up paying out instead of getting any of that benefit.”
The transit
In fact, the Swift run is going to cost the city and the province big-time in the form of additional trains, subways, streetcars and buses as it braces to move around the 500,000 fans expected to descend on already gridlocked streets. Then there’s the hundreds of extra transit workers and police who will be deployed to help manage the crowds.
But with the level of U.S. visitors to Canada in general at just 85 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, Destination Toronto hopes Swiftie guests flooding into the Six from will get here and realize they wanna come back (maybe when hotels aren’t charging $2,000 a night).
The boy ... er, we mean, the sports
Even the NFL is getting in on the action. Swift and her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce generated “equivalent brand value” worth roughly US$331-million for not just the Chiefs but the entire league between September, 2023, when she attended her first Chiefs game, and January, 2024, according to Apex Marketing Group.
It’s probably just a fun coincidence that the Chiefs are taking on the Buffalo Bills just across the border from Toronto on Sunday, maybe, probably in the hopes that Swift will make an appearance to cheer on her bae. So, if you’re missing her in concert – and millions of fans were denied, with unprecedented demand for tickets literally breaking Ticketmaster – get thee to Buffalo. Maybe you’ll get a glimpse of her shakin’ it in the stands.
The Decibel 🎧
The latest edition of The Globe’s daily news podcast breaks down how businesses are getting in on the fun, and how to make the most of the Eras Tour days – whether or not you’re a Swiftie.
Charted
Better or worse off than your parents?
Worse, for the most part. The proportion of Canadians who feel they’re financially worse off than their parents’ generation is the highest it has ever been in an Environics Institute survey that has been conducted since 1990, The Globe’s Salmaan Farooqui reports. “Experts say there are a number of factors that have left people feeling discouraged, including the cost of housing, global political uncertainty and a sense of disappointment that recent times of economic hardship didn’t end with the pandemic.”
The outlook
On our radar and reading list
In Manhattan Saks Fifth Avenue is cancelling its famed holiday lights show in “a challenging year for luxury.”
In space: A tech company wants to grow semiconductor crystals in satellites before transporting them safely back to Earth.
In cosmic retribution: The Onion is buying Alex Jones’s Infowars with help from Sandy Hook families.
Morning update
Global markets were mixed in muted trading after U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell dampened investor hopes for another interest rate cut this year by saying there’s no need to hurry on easing monetary policy.
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.44 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.05 per cent, Germany’s DAX gave back 0.17 per cent and France’s CAC 40 declined 0.18 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.28 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.05 per cent.
The Canadian dollar traded at 71.20 U.S. cents.